[Only in Beijing] More than Massage（仅在北京）不只是按摩

I just started an unpaid internship at a lifestyle magazine. As an aspiring journalist, I want to build my portfolio of clippings. My first assignment: review five of Beijing’s most unique foot massage parlors. I should have been thrilled: instead of telling me to brew coffee, my editor tasked me with writing the health section feature at an internationally recognized publication (also, five free foot massages!) But alas, I balked at the thought of wasting my talents on a subject as substantive as cotton candy.

My shoulders hunched like an implacable Scrooge, I trudged into the first massage center and ordered a pampering for one pouty pedestrian. The foot massage industry is enormous in China, drawing on Chinese medicine’s theories on reflexology. As such, many parlors boast rather luxurious trappings. I continued to mope.

I had received foot massages before, but never alone. Sitting on the luscious recliner, complimentary watermelon slices and the TV remote at my disposal, I could well have passed the time without conversation. Yet there is something inherently intimate about trusting one’s feet to a total stranger, so I decided to strike up conversation with my masseuse.

What ensued was one of the most insightful exchanges I have ever had in China. I’ve read countless articles on how young people migrate from the countryside to large cities in hopes of finding employment, but never had I conversed with one at length. I felt as if I were meeting a celebrity – after all, these young people are the ones driving China’s economic growth. And so, I made a point to learn as much about them as possible.

There was a 22-year-old male who was funneled into the government-sponsored school program that trains blind masseuses. That doesn’t stop him from following his favorite historical dramas on CCTV. As he put it, “If you don’t know anything about the world or its history, then who are you, exactly?”

I met a bubbly 19-year-old girl from impoverished Henan province who came to the city at age 17. Her parents think that she earns a living giving manicures, as “massage parlor” often serves as a euphemism for a more questionable establishment. “America… is that near Korea?” she asked, jumping on every opportunity to learn more about the outside world.

One 23-year-old Sichuan girl came to Beijing in 2008. Like many other Chinese people born in the countryside, she has several siblings, one of which is now with her in the capital. She had shed the spunk I saw in the 19-year-old, and came off as more mature than me. Making her start as a waitress, she earned enough money to go to masseuse school. When I asked if she ever considered going abroad, she laughed. “You can’t think about that sort of thing, or else you’ll lose focus.”

As I whined about a cushy writing assignment, my Chinese counterparts parried hardship with sacrifice. Never have my peers left me so awed, so humbled, and so inspired as here in Beijing.

我刚刚开始在一家生活时尚类杂志开始无薪实习。作为一个有抱负的记者，我想在我的简历里添加各种经历。我的第一个任务：就是点评五家北京最具特色的足底按摩店。这一切都让我激动不已：我的编辑并没有让我每天煮咖啡，而是让我负责一份全球知名的出版物上的健康版的撰稿工作！（这意味着5个免费的足部按摩！）但是，唉，我也很犹豫，想着不该浪费我的才华在这些像棉花糖一样软绵绵的没有实质性的内容上。

我像一个无情的守财奴一样耸着肩，拖着沉重的脚步来到按摩中心，订购了一个丰润呵护足部护理。在中国，人们利用中医理论进行按摩，足部按摩行业是如此巨大。因此，许多美容院都拥有相当豪华的装饰。我继续闷闷不乐。

我做过足部按摩，但没有一个人独自做过。坐在这甜美的躺椅上，拿着免费的西瓜片和电视的遥控器，我可以不用说话的打发时间。然而，被一个完完全全的陌生人如此亲近地按摩我的脚，还是觉得奇怪。所以我决定与我的女按摩师聊聊。

随之而来的是一段我在中国的最深刻的交流。我阅历过无数年轻人希望能找到工作，从农村迁移到大城市，但我从来没有和他们长谈过。我觉得我碰到的是一个大人物 – 毕竟，这些年轻人推动了中国经济增长。所以，我准备尽可能多的了解他们。

有一个22岁的男性，在政府资助的学校参加过盲人按摩师培训。眼疾并不能阻止他收听他最喜欢的中央电视台的历史剧。正如他所说的那样，“如果你不知道任何有关世界的信息或它的历史，那么你是谁，是什么呢？”

我遇到了一个天真活泼的从贫穷的河南来的19岁女孩，她来到这个城市时年仅17岁。她的父母认为，她靠做美甲维持生活，因为“按摩院”，往往有一些值得质疑的含义。 “美国在哪儿，靠近韩国吗？”她问，她活跃地抓住每一个机会，以了解更多外面的世界。

在2008年，一个23岁的四川女孩来到北京。像许多其他的中国人一样，她出生在农村，有几个兄弟姐妹，其中一个与她都在首都。她已经褪去了19岁应该有的青涩，看起来比我更成熟。她开始作女服务员的工作，赚了足够的钱去女按摩师学校。当我问她是否考虑过出国，她笑了： “你不能想诸如此类的事情，否则你会很难集中注意力做好当下的事情。”

就像我为一个轻松的写作任务发牢骚，而我的中国同行此时却正在招架困难，付出牺牲。我的同龄人从来没有向北京的这些人一样令我感到恭敬与敬畏，令我我备受鼓舞。